Day 229 Roundup: Reports of Casualties, Electricity and Water Outages as Blasts Rock Kyiv and Other Ukrainian Cities

Image credit: Reuters [via Reuters]

The Facts

  • A barrage of Russian missiles hit Kyiv and a number of other Ukrainian cities including Lviv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr, and Odesa on Monday morning – striking areas which have so far been largely unaffected by the seven-month war. Targets included thermal power plants in Kyiv, Lviv, and elsewhere in the country, leading to reports of widespread electricity and water outages.
  • While the number of civilian casualties remains unclear and is likely to rise, eight people were reported killed and 24 more were reported injured in Kyiv. Numbers for other cities were unavailable at this stage.
  • In a video message released in the midst of the attacks, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of "trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth." He then urged civilians in Ukraine to remain in bomb shelters as air raid sirens rang out across the country.

Sources Split


The Spin


Anti-Russia narrative

Russia has responded to the humiliating attack on the Crimean Bridge with total barbarity, by striking civilian infrastructure such as power grids, universities, and children's playgrounds. Putin is clearly frustrated by the destruction of a such a strategically and symbolically important piece of infrastructure as the bridge, and has reacted with rash brutality.

Pro-Russia narrative

Justifiably, Russian citizens expect that the terror attack on the civilian bridge between Russia and Crimea will be met with fierce response. The country's leaders owe it to the Russian people, and to the security of the nation itself, to target the terrorists responsible and hold the Kiev regime to account for the loss of innocent life in the Russian federation.


Metaculus Prediction

There is a 15% chance that Ukraine will receive a security guarantee from another country before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.